The electoral college vote

The Framers had viewed political parties with suspicion, but by the 1790s party politics had taken root—and with it the interests of party organizations began to exert influence. In 1796 the Federalist Party supported John Adams for president, but it split its vote such that Jefferson, the Democratic-Republican candidate, earned the second greatest number of votes, thereby securing the post of vice president (electors cast two ballots originally without designating a presidential or vice presidential choice). Adams thus governed during his presidency with the leader of the opposition as his vice president.

John Adams, oil on canvas by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1800–15; in the National Gallery of Art, …

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Mrs. Robert Homans, 1954.7.1

The 1800 election was a rematch between Adams and Jefferson, and to forestall the recurrence of the same situation from the 1796 election, the parties sought to ensure that all their electors were united. On the Federalist side Adams ran with Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, while Jefferson’s running mate was Aaron Burr.

As in the previous elections, there was no popular vote. Instead, the state legislatures appointed electors, and the Democratic-Republicans swept most of the South, including all the electors from Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, while Adams ran strong in the northeast, capturing all the electoral votes from Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. With Burr, a New Yorker, on the ticket, Jefferson won that state, and the electors from the remaining states (Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) split their votes. The Federalists, realizing the potential for a tie, arranged for one of their electors, from Rhode Island, to cast a ballot for John Jay. All of the Democratic-Republican electors, however, cast their ballots for Jefferson and Burr, and since electors could not indicate a presidential or vice presidential choice, the result was a tie.

Under the existing rules, a tie was to be decided by the lame-duck Federalist-controlled House of Representatives, with each of the 16 states casting a single vote. Almost all the Federalists wanted to coalesce behind Burr rather than elect their political enemy Jefferson, but Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist and longtime enemy of Burr’s, tried to engineer support for Jefferson. Still, Burr maintained that he would not challenge Jefferson—an assertion that Jefferson did not wholly accept.

Voting in the House of Representatives began on Feb. 11, 1801, and on the first ballot Jefferson was the choice of eight states, while Burr was supported by six (all with a Federalist majority among their congressional representatives), and two were split. After more than 30 more ballots held over the next several days, the results were the same. Finally, after 36 ballots and with Federalists in Maryland and Vermont abstaining, giving those states to Jefferson, Jefferson was elected president (with Burr as vice president) on February 17 by a majority of 10 states to 4 (Delaware and South Carolina cast blank votes). The election was a catalyst for the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment (1804), under which electors would cast separate ballots for president and vice president.

1Electors were chosen by legislatures in many states, not by popular vote.2As both Jefferson and Burr received the same number of electoral votes, the decision was referred to the House of Representatives. The 12th Amendment (1804) provided that electors cast separate ballots for president and vice president.

Source: United States Office of the Federal Register.

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